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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369659">guide you home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahoy_cinderella/pseuds/ahoy_cinderella'>ahoy_cinderella</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bodyguard (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas fic, F/M, Re-write, re-post</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:22:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369659</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahoy_cinderella/pseuds/ahoy_cinderella</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“But I want you to know that for as long as you are in my life, you will never have another lonely Christmas.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>David Budd &amp; Julia Montague, David Budd/Julia Montague</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>guide you home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ahoy, beautiful humans! </p><p>I hope everyone is fairing okay during this fucking awful year.</p><p>so this is my first ever xmas fic for these two idiots. It's fluff and sap and I'm disgusted with myself. It's also quite shit and I apologise for that but I wrote it in a rush. It's also very dialogue heavy.</p><p>I posted something similar last year and then deleted it and I've re-written it this year, so if you were one of the very very few who read this last year, I'm so sorry your eyes had to see that and some of this may look familiar.</p><p>I did have an idea for a second chapter but between work (I work in retail so you can imagine how awful this time of year has been) and uni work, I've got literally zero time to write it until like february??? so I may just have to leave that one on the shelf.</p><p>please let me know what you think! </p><p>I'm such a whore for comments so all of them are absolutely appreciated.</p><p>love to you all, </p><p>stay safe xo</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em>when it all falls down</em>
</p><p>
  <em>and you wish you could fall too</em>
</p><p>
  <em>did you call out for this life?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>or did it call you</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>/</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Julia felt her stomach drop to her feet when he asked the question, she knew they would have to discuss their arrangements at some point but in the back of her mind she just wished the inevitable question gone and pretended it wasn’t something they had to talk about.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” she asked quietly, pretending she hadn’t heard his question the first time.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you thinking of doing for Christmas this year?”</p><p> </p><p>It was the middle of November and the bloody holiday was <em>everywhere</em>. Everywhere she looked there were Christmas deals, in shops, on the tv, you couldn’t even have the radio on for longer than four minutes without hearing a bloody ridiculous jingle advertising a pointless deal ‘only for Christmas’.</p><p> </p><p>“Uhh,” Julia hesitated, her back still turned to him as she fiddled about making two mugs of coffee for them, taking much longer than she usually would, trying to act busy in the hope that he’d drop the subject immediately. “I don’t really know to be honest.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay” His deep Scottish voice came from behind her, she jumped slightly, not realising he had come right up behind her instead of being at the opposite end of the counter like he had been twelve seconds ago. “I was just thinking, you know, we should probably think about it.”</p><p> </p><p>“We have plenty of time” She smiled nervously, making him his steaming mug of black coffee with one sugar that she had perfected just for him over the last year. She kept her head down, trying not to look him in the eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Not really, love” He chuckled “It’s almost December” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder before Julia turned and handed him the steaming mug, still not quite able to look him in the eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I know” She muttered, lowering herself onto the plush sofa in what was now <em>their </em>flat.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we have to decide something, it’s not like last year…”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Julia mumbled “It’s definitely not like last year”</p><p> </p><p>Last Christmas their situation was vastly different to say the least. Julia had barely just been released from hospital when the holiday creeped up on them. Still battling with her injuries from the bomb attack at St Matthews College which resulted in her left hip being broken, now held together with a metal plate, her left leg shattered, cracked pelvis, punctured lung, fractured wrist, both her shoulders dislocated and bruises and burns covering the majority of her body like some horror movie blanket. She had spent most of December in a painkiller induced haze, still to this day barely able to remember anything from the day of the attack until at least mid-January.</p><p> </p><p>David had fought to stay by her side, after being barred from the hospital by the idiotic ex-husband while Julia was unconscious, he had managed to convince Vicky to sneak him updates on Julia’s condition, until the day that the brunette had finally woken up - unable to speak properly due to the swelling in her throat from the consistent presence of her breathing tube – she had managed to write down one word, shakily with her right hand which had been most spared from injury apart from a few scrapes.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>David</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>David had barely left her side while she was in the hospital, even though she slept for most of the day, he stayed by her side, her right hand clasped in his, watching her breathe, thanking a god he didn’t really believe in that she had survived. There had been no question then, it was obvious to him and to everyone that he was well and truly in love with Julia Montague.</p><p> </p><p>Julia had been released from hospital on the 23<sup>rd</sup> of December into the care of her mother and David. Frances Montague had moved herself into her daughters flat, something Julia herself wasn’t entirely sure she was okay with. The pair had never had the closest of relationships, but apparently being blown up and tangled in a web of conspiracy between government and police force alike, will make your mother think twice about things.  On Christmas morning, David had woken early, Julia had been awake most of the night due to the constant burning pain in her hips which they were told would be normal but was still anything but normal for either of them to deal with. Julia had never felt pain like it and David couldn’t bear to see her in pain, wishing every minute of the day that he could swap places with her.</p><p> </p><p>She had insisted that he leave and go see his children, she had taken her morning dose of painkillers and was essentially unconscious by the time he had gotten his shoes on. After saying a quick goodbye to Frances with promises to be back later, David made his way to his ex-wife’s house, presents in hand to see his children.</p><p> </p><p>By the time he had returned, Julia had moved into the living room, huddled up in blankets, her mind still woozy from the painkillers.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Hi” David said quietly, placing a kiss on her head as he shrugged off his jacket and scarf, hanging them on the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I need a new couch” Julia muttered, her eyes barely focused on the television as an old episode of what he recognised as a Morecambe and Wise Christmas special played in front of them.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay, love” He chuckled to himself, she had been constantly finding things around her flat that now needed replaced since returning home from the hospital, practically everything she had to touch, look at or sit on had to be replaced due to the pain that consumed her body whenever she tried to do anything. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Her mattress was now too hard meaning it hurt to lay in her bed unless she had at least five extra pillows all positioned perfectly around her broken frame, the sofa was too low making it painful to bend to sit on the large dark grey furniture, holding a mug of tea was too heavy for her aching arms and shoulders, watching tv made her head pound as the bright lights blinded her sensitive eyes and the list went on…but instead of admitting the pain, she would announce to him firmly, with the haze of painkillers in her eyes and swarming her brain that these things needed replaced.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em> “Are you okay? Have you eaten?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Julia just shook her head lightly, barely able to string a sentence together. “She had some toast about an hour ago” Frances told him quietly as she entered the room, two mugs of tea in her hand.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>David nodded and shifted closer to Julia, noticing she was struggling to keep her eyes open; he wrapped his arm over her shoulders and let her head rest on his chest.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“it’s Christmas” He heard her say quietly against his shirt, lifting her head slightly to look at him. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He held her gaze before kissing her forehead. “I know,” He smiled “Merry Christmas, my love” he replied quietly.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m sorry” She whispered “You deserve a better Christmas”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s okay, you can make it up to me next year” He grinned as she laughed for the first time in what felt like months. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>;</p><p> </p><p>It had been three days since the last time David had brought up the need to make Christmas plans, Julia had managed to distract him by removing her shirt and climbing into his lap. She was never a fan of the holidays, it was yet another reminder of how drastically alone she had felt for so many years, and now, even though she had David by her side, those thoughts of lonely days spent downing wine by the bottle to drown out the sound of her family arguing about anything and everything still plagued her mind at the mere mention of the holiday season. Her mother and her aunt Gwen would argue from the moment her aunt arrived in the morning to the moment the last drop of scotch was drank. It had been that way her entire life, her mother, aunts and grandmother would all bicker back and forth between one and other, her grandfather, father and uncles would take themselves off to the study or to the den and drink scotch until it was time to leave, leaving Julia and her cousins to amuse themselves for the day.</p><p> </p><p>She could see the excitement on David’s face the second he walked through the door, “So, guess what?” He said, his hands gripping the edge of the counter, trying to contain his obvious enthusiasm.</p><p> </p><p>“What have you done?” Julia raised her eyebrow and smirked at him before opening her maroon, leather handbag and removing a couple of folders she had grabbed from her desk drawer before leaving the Home Office for the day.</p><p> </p><p>“I talked to Vicky earlier…”</p><p> </p><p>“And…” Julia shrugged, the jealousy she once felt about David and Vicky’s relationship had mostly melted away, back when she was still recovering from the bombing and could barely hold her own head up, any time David mentioned his ex-wife she wanted to scream and cry. Why would he be with her? The most hated woman in the world, an emotionally stunted human being even by her own admission; she had been shot at and blown up and scarred for life all within the few months he had been in her orbit, but for some reason he stayed. David stayed, Julia recovered, the divorce was finalised, their relationship became public knowledge, they survived.</p><p> </p><p>“So, one of the other nurses she works with, Michelle, her mum hasn’t been well for a while, cancer or something…”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s awful” Julia commented</p><p> </p><p>“Aye, it is.” David nodded solemnly for a second before jumping back into his excited recollection of the phone call. “Well, Michelle’s mum hasn’t got long left and they reckon this is gonna be her last Christmas and Michelle was scheduled to work Christmas day, which obviously she was upset about and she was telling Vicky and Vicky swapped shifts with her, so Vicky is now working Christmas day.” He finally stopped for breath and beamed at his girlfriend; she could see the pure joy in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay…” Julia replied slowly, not quite catching on.</p><p> </p><p>“So, I have the kids for Christmas this year!” he grinned and leaned over the counter, pulling her closer and capturing her lips in a kiss, it was quick and hard and caught Julia by surprise, but David didn’t seem to notice.</p><p> </p><p>He pulled back as quickly as he’d leaned in “So, we definitely have to make some plans now, can’t have them waking up to nothing”</p><p> </p><p>Julia shook her head as he bounded towards the couch and sat down, kicking his shoes off under the coffee table. There was no way she could avoid Christmas now, not if Ella and Charlie were involved. They were still young enough to enjoy the magic of Christmas, not yet battered down by the hype and over-commercialisation and busyness of the holiday season. She loved David’s kids; she had met them for the first time just over two months after the bombing.</p><p> </p><p>Still hobbling with two crutches, she had finally started physiotherapy and was getting stronger by the day, she had ditched the stronger pain killers and could finally make it longer than three hours without passing out asleep. Vicky had been called in to cover a shift, some staff shortage after a norovirus outbreak and had called David asking if he could have the kids. Julia had noticed him looking almost nervous as he ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the dark strands while on the phone, before he turned to her and explained the situation, he was nervous about leaving her for the day now that her mother had <em>finally</em> returned to her own house. She had merely shrugged and said, “Just bring them here?” and that is what he’d done.</p><p> </p><p>Charlie was instantly taken with the dark-haired woman who his daddy was now practically living with. He asked all about her cuts and bruises that were still faintly visible along her hair line and cheekbone, down her neck and on her arms, and her leg which had been freed from the plaster cast and now was cased in a black and blue monstrosity with Velcro straps from mid-thigh to her toes, the only good thing was she could remove this one at night; trying to sleep with a plaster cast taking up the majority of her leg had been a nightmare. Neither David nor Julia had explained to the children exactly <em>how </em>Julia had come to sustain her injuries, not wanting to terrify them and give them nightmares for years to come, they just told them simply that she had been in an accident.</p><p> </p><p>Ella had taken a little longer to warm up to the older woman, the young girl was a fierce daddy’s girl. However, once she had discovered that Julia could ride horses and play piano - which Ella was begging her parents to let her learn because one of her friends at school had started learning - they were instant friends.</p><p> </p><p>David’s thick voice had broken Julia from her thoughts “Here, once mum finds out I’ve got the kids she’s gonna practically demand we head up to Scotland.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Julia almost gasped at the idea, she had spoken to his mother via facetime once or twice when David called her but that was the extent of it. David had told her all about his family, his parents, both stubborn and headstrong but with hearts of gold who adored all of their grandkids, his two sisters, both polar opposites of each other, one a hippie like traveller, would rather explore than settle down with a family and the other, married since the age of twenty with four kids, the oldest at thirteen, the youngest just four months. Basically, the Budd family were the complete antithesis of the Montagues.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Would it be such a bad idea? Spending Christmas in Scotland? No doubt it’ll snow, it always snows up our way this time o’ year, the kids ‘ll love it” He suggested, not even turning to face her, or to see the complete shock at his suggestion.</p><p> </p><p>“You want <em>me</em>, to come to Scotland with you and your children and spend Christmas with your family?”</p><p> </p><p>“God Julia, nae need to make it sound like a prison sentence” David turned in his seat, one arm over the back of the couch.</p><p> </p><p>“I just…I don’t even know your family and you want me to spend Christmas with them?” Julia chuckled, by the look on his face she could feel she was blowing this suggestion way out of proportion, but she couldn’t help but feel vastly underprepared for such an occasion.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know your mother, yet I practically lived with her for two months?” David called back at her, slight malice in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah well, I didn’t ask her to stay, did I?” Julia spat back.</p><p> </p><p>“So, it’s a no then? You’re not even going to think about it? I get the kids for Christmas <em>and</em> it’s our first proper Christmas as a couple because like you said, last year didn’t really count and you don’t want to spend it together?” David stood and angrily undid the buttons of his crisp white shirt.</p><p> </p><p>Julia could tell he was angry, he was breathing a little heavier and his body was rigid “I didn’t say that” She replied quietly, cursing herself for letting her emotions get the better of her, feeling the tears prick her eyes. This was definitely not how she had expected this night to go when he’d come practically bouncing though the door barely an hour earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“Aye well, that’s what it sounded like.” David mumbled, pulling his shirt over his head while marching towards the bedroom,</p><p> </p><p>“David …” Julia started, her voice quiet, the emotion catching in her throat. This is not what she wanted to have happen.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going for a run” He muttered from the bedroom door as he grabbed his running gear and walked into the an-suite bathroom, slamming the door behind him.</p><p> </p><p>;</p><p> </p><p>“I never said that I did not want to go” Julia said quietly, David approached the kitchen counter, standing opposite from her, beads of sweat glistening along his hairline as he returned from his run just over two <em>hours</em> later. He’d been gone a lot longer than usual and Julia had to stop herself from overthinking that he had actually left her for good.</p><p> </p><p>The pair stood in silence for a few moments, David slowly catching his breath watching his girlfriend stare into her glass of shiraz.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what did you …”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m scared”</p><p> </p><p>They both spoke at the same time. David’s eyes widened slightly; his brows raised in surprise at her honest admission. Never, even after everything that had happened had Julia once admitted fear.</p><p> </p><p>“Of what? …” He replied, pushing back from the counter and standing to his full height</p><p> </p><p>“Everything” She whispered, tears threatening to fall, she tried so hard to hold them back which meant an almost physical lump of emotion trapped itself in her throat as she refused to meet his eye.</p><p> </p><p>“Julia …” David moved slowly, his trainers making a quiet squeak on the wood floor as he moved to her side of the counter</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t …” She held her hand up towards him, refusing to let him come any closer, the last thing she needed right now was sympathy.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me …”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want it to break us” Her voice was almost unrecognisable. The last time he had heard her so emotional, she had just returned home from a particularly gruelling physio session, an hour-long attempt at getting her back on her feet and walking again. She had come home and broke down at the thought of never being herself again, of being unable to be her formidable self and ending up this shell of who she used to be.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s Christmas, Love” He spoke, placing his palm flat down softly on the counter near to her “It’s a time for family and happiness and after the year we’ve had, I just thought you’d want to be a part of that” He told her, his voice soft and yet his accent just as strong, sending pinpricks across her skin.</p><p> </p><p>“I cannot ever remember having a happy Christmas, David.” She admitted, finally making eye contact “You don’t understand what it was like being in that house at this time of year, everyone thinks it’s wonderful, all these fancy parties, full of laughter and joy and maybe it is if you’re in the middle of it” Julia explains and David can see her eyes fill with tears “But when your seven years old and you’re on the outside looking in, it’s the loneliest time of the year”</p><p> </p><p>“Julia, I didn’t know” David replies apologetically, his hand reaches out and brushes her arm</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine, you didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell.” She shrugs</p><p> </p><p>“So, tell me …”</p><p> </p><p>“Tell you what?” She asks, downing a mouthful of her dark red wine</p><p> </p><p>“Everything” He insisted</p><p> </p><p>;</p><p> </p><p>“It was the same every year for as long as I can remember, and the ones I can’t remember I was obviously too young to do anything.” She started, the two of them sat on the couch, David now freshly showered, Julia in one of his sweaters and her comfy pyjama pants.</p><p> </p><p>“My aunts and uncles would arrive on the 22<sup>nd</sup>, so would my grandparents. The main party was always the 23<sup>rd</sup>. My mother and her sister Gwen fought from the second Gwen arrived and then the moment that her and my uncle Sam left they would hug and laugh and kiss each other on the cheek and talk about how they could not wait until next time” Julia chuckled sarcastically at the sheer hypocrisy of it all</p><p> </p><p>“My mother and father would always host these lavish parties for various people, co-workers, fellow society members and all that. Usually around the middle of December and I was always shut out of those, it was always <em>“Upstairs Julia! People will be arriving soon”</em></p><p> </p><p>David rolled his eyes and scoffed; he could never imagine growing up in that world. His family parties were the complete opposite, <em>everyone</em> was welcome, no matter what age they were.</p><p> </p><p>“The family Christmas always started the same, we’d all sit together and have breakfast, and by together, I mean all the adults in one room and all the kids in the other. Presents after that and everyone had to open one at a time and we were never allowed to be overexcited or we would get yelled at by my uncle James, he and my aunt Lydia had one son, my cousin William and he barely spoke as a child, sometimes I think he was just voluntarily mute because it was easier than dealing with the wrath of my uncle.” Julia downed another mouthful of wine before continuing.</p><p> </p><p>“The rest of the day consisted of the kids in one room and the women in another while all the men went to the den and drank scotch. My mother and my aunts would all sit in the living room and gossip and argue and bitch about all their friends and what so and so wore to this event that made her look fat and how someone else had slapped on too much make up and honestly it was just awful. I asked my mother one year why she said those things about her friends, and she told me <em>“Little girls should not listen to things that do not concern them”</em> and banished me from the room.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so sorry, Love” David reached out and brushed her hair back from her face, a few soft strands had fallen from her low ponytail.</p><p> </p><p>“It got worse when I was married to Roger because all that happened was that I had become one of them.” She gulped down another mouthful of wine in order to hide the tears. “I was standing one Christmas eve in his mother’s kitchen with his mother, sister and aunts and realised it was exactly the same as every single one of my Christmases when I was a child except this time I was allowed in the room. I spent so many years being kept out of the room, being told to stay in my bedroom by myself, that when I was older and married, I couldn’t wait for Christmas, I thought how wonderful it would be to spend Christmas away from the bitching and the utter loneliness only to realise that it was the same wherever I went.”</p><p> </p><p>David moved himself closer and wrapped his arm around Julia’s shoulder “The last few years I’ve spent Christmas by myself in this flat and just drank myself to sleep because I’d rather be lonely by myself than being lonely surrounded by people” She finished with a cough, clearing her throat to rid herself of the emotion before finishing her wine and pushing the empty glass onto the table.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t have to be lonely anymore, Love” David pulled her close and pressed his lips to her temple.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve never met your family, David…”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve spoke to my mum loads of times on the phone and on facetime” He prodded</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but it’s different face to face.” Julia swallowed, “What if they decide they don’t like me and tell you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Love … “</p><p> </p><p>“You and your family are so close, David, I would never want to come between that”</p><p> </p><p>“Listen to me” David interrupted, “I don’t care what they think, I don’t care what anyone thinks …”</p><p> </p><p>Julia rolled her eyes and moved to speak but he got there first “Mum’s been dying to meet you in person forever, Julia.” He grabbed her hand in his and kissed her palm</p><p> </p><p>“Our family aren’t as cold-hearted as you imagine them to be”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened is shock “That’s not what I think”</p><p> </p><p>“I know that, but you said it yourself you’ve been surrounded by all these two-faced wenches your whole life” Julia chuckled at his words “My mum could go to any country in the world and end up inviting half the country into the family, that’s just who she is”</p><p> </p><p>“She didn’t have the best upbringing, her mum walked out when she was about seven and never came back, it was just her dad, my pa’ that raised her, and her siblings, until he met my nan and she always said that she’d never be like her mother and she isn’t”</p><p> </p><p>“God David, that’s awful” Julia squeezed his arm “I never knew that”</p><p> </p><p>“Neither did I until I was about fourteen” David shrugged “I always assumed my nan was my mum’s mum because she always called her ‘mum’ and that was just how it was.”</p><p> </p><p>“See, you Montague’s aren’t the only family with a dose of dysfunction” He nudged her shoulder</p><p> </p><p>They sat in silence for a few moments, wrapped in each other’s arms until David spoke “I want you to feel like part of our family.” He insisted “I don’t want you to ever feel like you did all those other Christmases. I want you to see it can be full of laughter and love and bad jokes and yelling at my uncle Joe for cheating at Pictionary…honestly he’s the worst.” He chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>Julia looked her at her other half with tears in her eyes, she hated being so emotional but something about David just made her heart burst. Her childhood had been filled with people telling her not to cry, her teenage years were <em>“oh stop being so melodramatic, Julia dear” </em>and her during her marriage she had become so accustom to shutting off her feelings that she wasn’t even sure she <em>could</em> feel.</p><p> </p><p>He had changed her whole life in an instant. It felt like some cheesy rom-com that she would absolutely <em>hate,</em> the kind of relationship she would scoff at and roll her eyes but now all she wanted was to hold his hand and kiss him in public and let everyone know she loved him more than life itself and that thought alone terrified her to her very core.</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t have to go. If you’re really so nervous about it, we absolutely don’t have to. We can do something here just me, you and the kids.” David insisted “But I want you to know that for as long as you are in my life, you will never have another lonely Christmas.”</p><p> </p><p>Julia smiled and leaned into him “Thank you” She whispered against his mouth before claiming his lips with her own.</p><p> </p><p>“I suppose Christmas in Scotland wouldn’t be so bad” She smiled softly “I’m not saying the thought doesn’t terrify me” She stated with a laugh “But I guess I do want to see what a proper Budd Christmas looks like”</p><p> </p><p>Julia sniggered as David’s grin got so wide, she was sure it would split his face, he grabbed her close and kissed her “I love you” He muttered against her mouth, one hand tangled in her hair.</p><p> </p><p>“It would be great for the kids to see their grandparents again; it has been a while” Julia spoke “Although this time maybe you should avoid the train”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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